Ventilator for conveyances



April l23, 1935.

F. N. GOULD ET AL VENTILATOR FOR CONVEYANCE S Filed May 12, 1953 Patented Apr. 23, 1935 UNITED STATES VENTILATOR FOR CONVEYANCES Frank N. Gould and David R. Henderson, Minneapolis, Minn.

i Application May 12, 1933, Serial No. 679,675

2 Claims.

Our invention relates to ventilators and partcularlyto ventilators for .conveyancessuch as automobiles, railroad cars, street cars, air craft etc.

An object of our invention is to provide a ventilator for conveyances whereby motion of the conveyance causes exhausting of air froml the interior'of'the conveyance with the result that fresh air will enter the interior through windows, cracks or other openings.

Another object is to provide such a ventilator including power driven means for use in exhausting air when the conveyance is not in motion or for use to boost the exhaust of air when the conveyance is in motion'.

Still another object is to provide such a ventilator which will be operative when installed in any location in which it will be subjected to a stream of air moving relatively to itself.

Yet another object is to provide such a ventilator,'the various parts of which can be controlled by control elements located at a distance therefrom. Y

A still further and'more speciiicl object is to provide such a ventilator wherein suction for exhausting air from the interior of a vehicle or conveyance is produced in a venturi by means.

ofY air drawn through the venturi by motion of the vehicle or conveyance through the air.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will more fully appear from the following description, made in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the various views, and, in which,

Fig. l is a horizontal sectional View taken along the line I-I of Fig. 2, as indicated by the arrows; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. l, as indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, as indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of Fig. 1, as indicated by the arrows;

andA

Fig. 5 is an electrical connection diagram of the electrical operating and control circuits of our ventilator.

Referring to the drawing, our ventilator includes a generally rectangular casing Ill formed vof sheet metal or other suitable material. This casing includes a top plate Illa,v a bottomvplate I0b, a front plate Ille, a rear plate` lud, and side plates I 0e. The casing I0 is preferably secured to the lower side of the floor F of a conveyance so as to be carried by and located beneath the floor F.

A rearwardly converging truncated conical conduit Il is secured at its .forward end to portions of the frontplate IGC defining a circular aperture. A second conduit I2, having a rear portion of uniform diameter and a forwardly diverging, truncated conical forward portion, is secured at its rear end vto` portions of the rear plate Id defining a circular aperture. The second conduit I2 is axially aligned with the rst conduit II and the iorwardmost portion of the Vsecond conduit I2 is disposed about the rearmost portion of the first conduit I I in annularly spaced relationship thereto. The conduits Il'and I2 cooperate to form a straight flow venturi extending through the casing IU and having an inlet and an outlet both open to the space surrounding the casing I0. YThe most constricted portion of the venturi is situated at the rear end of the conduit II and hence, when air is passing through the venturi from front to rear, a partial vacuum is set up inA this constricted portion tending to suck air into the interior of the vVeni-.uri through the annular space between the conduits I I and I2 and eject this air with the discharge of the venturi.

A conduit I3 extends from the interior of the casing ID through suitable apertures in the top plate I lla of the casing and the floor F to a point just above the floor F at which point it is secured to a register I4.

A centrifugal blower I5, having an electric motor I6 to drive the same, is disposed within the casing I l] with its intake conduit I5a extending upwardly through suitablev apertures in the top plate Illa and the iloor F and secured to the register I4. VThe discharge lbof the blower I5 is open to the interior of the casing I0.

The space above the floor F is in communication with the interior of the casing I0 both through the conduit I3 and through the kblower A shutter Il,'of generally circular shape and formed of sheet material, has at its lower portion an ear vIla which is pivotally mounted on the medial part of the lowerY portion of the frontk plate Ic by. means of a screw' I'lb. Stops I8 and I9, mounted on the front vplate lc, are pro'- vided to limitjthe movement of the' shutter l1. The shutter Il is kso arranged that it, whenin one of its extreme positions, will cover the forward end of the conduit Il of the venturi to prevententrance of air into the venturi. When the shutter Il is in the other one of its extreme positions the front end of the Venturi is completely open to receive air. The shutter I'I is obviously so mounted that it will fall from any intermediate position to one or the other of its eXtreme positions. A cover plate 2E is supported forward of the front plate IGC in parallel and spaced relation thereto by means of suitable extensions of the side and top plates of the casing l0.

A shaft 2I is journaled in the cover plate 2E), the front plate |00 and a cross piece 22 which is secured at its ends to the side plates Ille a substantial distance rearwardly oi the front plate Ille and above the forward end of conduit I i. At a point between the cover plate 28 and the front plate Ilc an arm 23 is mounted on the shaft 2I in depending relation thereto.

A link 24 is pivotally connected at its upper end to the free end of the arm 23 and at its lower end to a point adjacent the pivot screw IIb as shown in Fig. 3. A pair of solenoids 25 are mounted at opposite sides of and somewhat below the shaft 2l rearward of the front plate Ille and forward of the crosspiece 22.` Each of the solenoids 25 has therewithin a plunger or armature 26, the inner end of which extends inwardly of the solenoid and is connected through a spring wire link 2l to the lower end of a lever 28 which is mounted on and depends from the shaft 2l at a point between the front plate Hic and the crosspiece 22.

One terminal of the blower motor I6, of each of the solenoids 25, and of a source of electrical energy, such as the battery B, is connected to a common conductor 29 as shown in the electrical connection diagram of Fig. 5. The common conductor 29 may be the metal frame of the conveyance. The remaining terminal of the battery B is connected to the remaining terminal of the blower motor I6 through a switch 3D and is connected selectively to the remaining terminal of one or the other of the solenoids y25 through a spring centered, normally open, single pole, double throw switch 3| and wires 32 as shown in Fig. 5. The wires 32 are cut at their point of entrance to the casing I ll and the circuits carried thereby are completed through terminal studs 32a which are insulated from the casing I0 and to one of which each of the wires 32 is connected.

Operation When the conveyance is in motion and the shutter I1 is in its open position air will ilow through first the conduit I I and then the conduit I2 of the venturi in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2. In the constricted portion of the venturi at the rear end of the conduit II the air will have its maximum velocity of flow and its lowest pressure. The partial vacuum in this low pressure zone will cause sucking of air from the interior of the casing IG into the interior of the venturi through the annular space between the conduits I I and I2 of the venturi and, of course, air will be drawn from the interior of the conveyance through the conduit 3 into the interior of the casing Ill. Some air will also be drawn from the interior of the conveyance into the interior of the casing Ill through the blower I5. The above action will be continuous as long as the conveyance is in motion with the result that air adjacent the floor of the conveyance will be constantly withdrawn and exhausted through the venturi. The air withdrawn will naturally be replaced by air from the upper portions of the interiorof the conveyance and this air will in turn be replaced by air entering through the windows, cracks or other air inlets of the conveyance or through hot air heating devices in the conveyance. v

When the conveyance is not in motion the withdrawal of air may be continued by closing the switch 3.!) whereby the blower motor I6 will operate the blower I5 to deliver air from the interior of the conveyance to the interior of the casing from whence it will escape to the outside through the venturi. The blower may also be used to augment the effects of the venturi while the conveyance is in motion. When the conveyance is not in motion and the direction of the wind is such as to tend to blow dust, exhaust gases, etc. through the ventilator into the interior of the conveyance, the blower may be used to prevent entrance of these undesirable elements.

The shutter il at the front end of the venturi may be opened or closed by momentarily operating the switch 3l to energize the correspending one of the solenoids 25. When the shutter is to be operated, the solenoid at the side opposite the position of the shutter is energized to attract its armature and hence to swing the lever 28 and the arm 23 in a direction away from the shutter. This action bowsthe spring wire link 2e to place the same under spring tension and pulls the shutter upwardly from one extreme position to its dead center position relative to its pivot Il'b after which the spring wire link will straighten to force the shutter to its other extreme position. The shutter functions to either prevent or permit movement Vof air through the venturi and hence to prevent or permit induced ventilation by means of the venturi. The primary purpose of the shutter is to prevent the entrance of mud, snow, dust etc. into the Venturi when it is not desired to use the ventilator.

The control switches and 3I for theA blower motor I6 and the shutter operating solenoids 25 may, of course, be installed in a location conveniently accessible to the operator of the conveyance thus providing complete remote control of the ventilator.

It will be noted that the lower end of the space between the front plate IDc and the cover plate 20 is open to permit mud etc. to drop from this space instead of accumulating therein.

It is apparent that the shutter may be remotely operated by means other than electrical means and itis also apparent that the upper ends of the conduit I3 and of the intake I5a of the blower may be provided with closable registers if desired.

The interior of the casing Il) may be lined with sheets of heat insulating material (not shown) to prevent or minimize condensation of moisture within the casing.

The action of our ventilator to draw cold air from just above the floor of the conveyance causes warmer air from above to descend to the floor and thus prevents the accumulation of cold air near the floor while causing a continuous circulation of air in the conveyance.

The removal of moist air from the interior of the conveyance by our ventilator will prevent frosting of the windows of the conveyance in cold weather. l

Ventilation by removing air from the interior of a conveyance as by means of our ventilator is not attended by drafts since it is not necessary for air entering the conveyance to enter entirely at one point or to enter as a blast of air.

It is apparent that we have invented a novel, efficient, 'effective and readily controllable form of ventilator for conveyances whereby movement of such conveyances through the air will produce ventilation of the conveyances and wherein means is provided for producing ventilation when such conveyances are not in motion.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed isz- 1. A ventilator for conveyances comprising a casing adapted to be mounted externally of a conveyance, an air inlet tube mounted in the top wall of said casing for communication with the interior of a conveyance and running downwardly to a point adjacent but spaced from the bottorn of the casing and located rearwardly from the forward end of said casing, a truncated conical rst conduit mounted in the forward part of said casing and having an open forward end at the forward end of said casing, said rst conduit converging rearwardly and its rear end being in slightly rearwardly spaced .relation from said tube, a second conduit coaxially alined with said first conduit and mounted in the rear portion of said casing, said second conduit including a forward truncated conical part which converges rearwardly and a rear part which joins the rear end of said forward part and is open at its rear end througnvthe rear wall of said casing, the forward portion of said forward truncated conical part of said second conduit surrounding the rearmost portion of said iirst conduit in annular relation and being disposed somewhat rearwardly from said tube.

2. A ventilator for conveyances comprising a casing adapted to be attached to the floor boards of a conveyance belowrthe same and having a forward end exposed to the air as the conveyance moves therethrough and a rear end opposed to said forward end, an open ended truncated conical rst conduit mounted in said forward end,

converging rearwardly and terminating short of c said rear end, a second open ended conduit mounted in said rear end and having a diverging forward portion, the forward part of which surrounds the rear part of said first conduit in spaced relation, a tube passing through the, top of said casing to communicate with the interior of the conveyance and terminating at its lower end within said casing and a blower having an intake mouth passing through the top of said casing for communication with the interior of the conveyance and having a discharge outlet within said casing.

FRANK N. GOULD.

DAVID R. HENDERSON. 

